Kane County Board signals no new taxes for 2023

Kane County Board members a considering a property tax increase of 3.5% or 5% as part of the 2023 budget. If approved, it would be the first increase in the county's portion of the local property tax bill in a decade

The 2023 Kane County budget will not contain any new taxes or tax increases under a plan that received unanimous approval from the Kane County Board this week.

But while the budget staves off any additional financial pressures for taxpayers as they vote on who will be on the board after the November election, the plan transfers the responsibility of solving the county’s budget deficits to whichever candidates voters put in place.

Earlier this year, the County Board voted against seeking a new county sales tax. On Monday, a special County Board meeting saw all board members present vote against any form of a property tax increase.

“At this time, it’s not the right move,” said board member Jarret Sanchez. “It’s not the right thing to do.”

Sanchez is part of a narrow Democratic majority on the board heading into the November election. He said he called various fellow Democrats on the board before the vote to change their minds about voting in favor of a property tax increase. That move reflects a measuring of the temperature of voters heading into the election and the board’s tax and budget votes.

A crowd of residents filled the County Board room during the vote and told board members a time of high inflation and rising interest rates would make any form of a tax increase unbearable. The County Board hasn’t increased its property tax levy, except to account for new property coming onto the tax roll, in more than a decade.

The 5% property tax increase the board considered would have added $2.9 million in new revenue to the county’s coffers. That’s only a small part of the $16.3 million budget deficit for 2023. That number doesn’t account for any additional salary and benefit costs that will come from ongoing union contract negotiations. The county has never come out of those negotiations without giving union employees some form of a raise, including outcomes that went to arbitration.

County officials are hopeful some of the expected deficit will shrink if at least some of the provisions of the SAFE-T Act are eliminated, revised or delayed. The SAFE-T Act is a sweeping state law aimed at several justice reforms, including the end of cash bail.

That said, only about $3 million of the $16.3 million 2023 projected deficit relates to the SAFE-T Act.

“This is one of those votes we are going to walk away from saying we did what our constituents want,” said board member Cliff Surges. “But we are not cutting expenses. This budget is unbalanced. And I’d like people to recognize that.”

County Board Chair Corinne Pierog said the first task of the new board will be to go to all the departments and get a full picture of what the county would look like if the new board decides to cut spending to resolve the future projected budget deficits.

The full County Board must still take one final vote to lock in the budget. That vote won’t come until Nov. 22.